Lord Tollemache with 3 Regt AAC marking its final homecoming from Afghanistan, 13 November 2014.

3 Regiment Army Air Corps (3 Regt AAC), which is based at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk and operates the Apache attack helicopter, held a medal parade today (13 Nov) to mark the return of its final contingent of troops from Helmand Province. Lord Tollemache, Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, presented Operational Service Medals to 54 soldiers from 662 Squadron, which returned last week as British combat operations in Helmand ended.

Praising the success of the tour, Lord Tollemache said: “662 Squadron has made a quite extraordinary contribution, undertaking five tours over the course of the campaign in Afghanistan. It is therefore fitting that they should be the Squadron entrusted with protecting Camp Bastion as coalition ground forces extracted and handed over the security of Helmand Province to the Afghan National Security Forces.”

3 Regiment AAC’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Mike Neville said: “This parade has been an occasion for us to come together as a Regiment to welcome our soldiers home and recognise their important contribution to operations in Afghanistan this year. The Apache has again proved to be a highly capable and versatile aircraft, which is to the credit to our soldiers, both Regular and from the Reserve, working in the air and on the ground, many of whom have completed several tours.”